Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

A tip of the cigar to cigar lover and comic Ernie Kovacs who combined both those when asked to describe his life in 18 words. "I was born in Trenton, NJ in 1919 to a Hungarian couple. I've been smoking cigars ever since." He died tragically young in a car accident, not even 50, with a double corona a few feet from his outstretched hand. A true BOTL

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

He also left his wife Edie Adams burdened with massive tax debts, which moved her to hawk cigars on TV for many years.

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

Yes. Had he lived he may have had been able to manage that.

At least his love of the leave kept paying after he was gone. :-)

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

He only smoked Havanas and Cuban Double Coronas. He would smoke up to 20 cigars a day, a habit that started before his show business career when he worked as a cigar salesman.

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

It was a $75,000 lean basically because he didn’t think the gov should tax people so much, just think how it’s gotten worse since then. His wife had many people offer to pay the debt and she refused their charity and took care of it herself. You know when your pallbearers are Frank, Dean and the boys it would have been easily paid off.

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

Didn't know those were his pall bearers. I knew he was loved in the show biz world. Wow. Yup, it could have been paid off quickly.

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

Thank goodness. My pubescence would have suffered without her Muriel commercials. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7EbLIdE88Q

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

Oh, and FYI DollarTimes says 75K in 1962 equates to nearly $630,000 today. Even to The Rat Pack that ain't exactly pocket change.

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

Nothing could have subdued your pubescence.

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

Love it. Needed that laugh!

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

And she said that she had several of his friends off to pay it off.

They still use some of his camera tricks to this day, he was not only funny he was technically ahead of his time. He was also the first one to do things like use the credits as part of the joke, like adding in fake credits, or random things during the credits, something Deadpool was very successful with many decades after the fact.

Re: Ernie Kovacs Cigar Smoker To The Literal End
 

Yup, all true.